Object of the day: sale special

I'm still smiling about the cushions I bagged in the Habitat sale for £4.50 each last week.

To capitalise on the high, here are some more sale goodies worth checking out.






These handsome pheasants by Exmoor- based Brit designer, Sam Pickard, feature on Swedish Åry trays in two different sizes.

Medium tray: £18.15, reduced from  £ 25.95 and small tray £11.85, down from £16.95, Theo-Theo.com

Introducing... Jen Collins, illustrator and ceramicist

I haven't yet got the hang of Instagram – I know, late in the game, but blame Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and life – I have no followers and can't work out how to find people...

... but I have already made my first lovely discovery and may just find myself hooked. (Do come find me by the way, and share your tips!)



Above: sitting tigers, £50 each

Glasgow-based illustrator/ceramicist Jen

Introducing... Homestuff with history

I'm not sure I love the say-what-it-is name of this shop I recently discovered, but I do like what it does. And at least the owners are making that clear.

Homestuff with History, an online shop based in Hertfordshire, is run by brother and sister Matt and Kathryn Brown and they may love old junk possibly even more than I do (did you miss my breathless post about the secondhand shops of Lewes?)

Shopping: raiding the antique shops of Lewes

I had a lovely time recently visiting dear friends who have recently moved to Lewes, not far from Brighton.

It was brilliant to hang out and catch up (and eat fantastic fish and chips – well, just chips and a pickled egg for me – from their excellent local chippy). But what was almost as great? THE SHOPPING.



First off, I should highlight the one purchase of the trip (unusually restrained for

Spotlight on... the Sight Unseen shop

After writing about a Sight Unseen competition last week, I discovered the online US craft magazine has a shop dedicated to selling hand-made products by artists and designers.

The shop has recently extended its remit from just selling wearables to including a few very nice homewares, all produced in tiny batches.



These mugs are designed by former print-maker, Josephine Heilpern under the

Object of the day: H & M new season cushions

One day, I'm going to get around to making my own cushion covers. I've even got my 1980s sewing machine out. It looks nice on the new under-stairs alcove shelf arrangement. So far that's as far as it's got. 

So hurrah for H&M's new season cushion range. You may remember their excellent horse cushion from last year... this year they've gone graphic and colourful. And prices start at just £3.99...

Object of the day: Russian nesting dolls

Meet Panda, Penguin and Raccoon. Monochrome nesting dolls hand-painted in Russia.

Aren't they nice? You could get them for a child, but who'd appreciate them more?




They're from a sweet little online store in Canada (check out their sheep cushions!) and cost $38 Canadian dollars, around £34. Find them at Babasouk.ca. International shipping available. You could also try US-based Wee Gallery,

Objects of the day: from the Home 2014 show

I made flying visit to Home 2014 yesterday, a big interiors trade show at Earl's Court in London if you're not familiar. 

Snapped some nice things. Here is a small selection, with more to come anon.






Danish design company, Ferm Living, have some nice new cushions (54 Euros) and a range of prints (30 Euros).






Hemingway Design have some gorgeous fabrics coming soon. Really like the blue/

Shopping: Branksome china

We've had a beautiful, teak glass-fronted display cabinet up on the kitchen wall since before Christmas. We still can't decide what to put into it.

All the stuff that actually needs to go in it for storage, doesn't add up to much of a display (as you can see here). So the pondering continues for now. It needs to combine practicality with beauty. Like this...





I love this bit of styling from

Shopping: The Wire Poster Project

I'm preposterously late to the game, but have finally started watching The Wire. I know. I'm still only on series two and have only just stopped being traumatised about Wallace. 

It is as brilliant as everyone has always said it was, and so with the fervour of a new convert, I present something else – a themed design off-shoot – that's been around since October. But maybe you haven't seen it

(Slightly boastful) object of the day: Pedlars' new print – written by me!

The summer before last, Charlie Gladstone of Pedlars called me with an idea he'd had for something to sell in the shop. 

He wanted to produce a historical map of the British Isles, stuffed with fascinating – and geographically specific – facts from the beginning of time right up to the present day that would tell the story of Britain in a visually spectacular, non-dry way. And would I like to

Object of the day: Robert Czajka's mini cardboard animals

Yes, you could buy these for a small child... But would they really appreciate them?

Instead, you could embrace the small child in yourself, and chirp up an otherwise clean and sparse shelf or windowsill with these pleasing cardboard animals.





Designed by Robert Czajka, who also makes entire towns from card, these make-them-yourself beasts come flat-packed in 12 sheets of recycled cardboard.

Object of the day: Urban Outfitters' zig zag rugs

Remember that monochrome rug I wrote about last year? It was one of Ikea's very popular items and, as such, was quite a palaver to track down.

Now Urban Outfitters has got in on the act (but with more colours, see below). And they're way cheaper than the Ikea version...



...However, that is because these ones are lightweight cotton and as such are – yippee – easily washable. But will – boo –

Freestyle Tuesday: a Cuban film poster exhibition at exciting new shop, Triangle

If you are in London town this week, in the eastern vicinity, you might enjoy this mini exhibition of old Cuban film posters on display at a very nice new (ish) shop in Hackney.

They will also be for sale – with prices starting at £75-£95 each (they are originals – unlike these, which I nevertheless also like a lot).






The posters showcase the work of the "Golden Team", the nickname given to

Kitchen table traumas

OK. So "traumas" is way overstating things. But I'm currently mildly perplexed about the kitchen table situation round my house.



The kitchen, along with most of the rest of the house, is undergoing a gradual upgrade (which I touched upon after Massive Wardrobe-gate a couple of months ago). 

 


The kitchen is where it's all happening right now. All over the house, we're trying to finish all

Impulse buy of the week: a toucan shaped lamp

Ah yes, we've all been there: car boot, chucking it down with rain, no bargains in sight when suddenly your 'phone rings; it's the other half: "Where are you? I've found something fabulous..."

So off I trot, past the tarpaulins and rain sodden traders to find the husband. And here's what we bought:



Yes. A floor lamp in the shape of a toucan. Don't ask me why, don't ask me how. I think it was

Ikea's new Trendig range: how long before everyone has some?

When Ikea launches a new range, the cynics among us may wonder how long it'll take for the products within it to become ubiquitous* (like these) – to be the things that elicit an "ooh, Ikea? I've got one of those" from house visitors. 

Nothing wrong with that, mind. But it can really take the shine off your spangly new bit of Scandi design, can't it?



Ceramic tableware, from £2-£8

So some

Lane's lovely prints

Lane, aka Joff Casciani and Ollie Wood, started out as a graphic design company. But last year the Nottingham-based duo branched out into products... 



...launching a range of beautiful things like prints, notebooks (in collaboration with Margaret Howell), lampshades and, shortly, cushions (in collaboration with Kirkby Design, them behind the brilliant London Underground textiles range).

All

Design Junction – a taster

The Design Junction preview this week was a visually exhausting (but most inspiring) three-storey adventure. The event is on all weekend, part of London Design Festival. Details at the end. Meanwhile, here's what I found out...






Among the new works launched by illustrator artists agency, Outline Editions, is work by the most excellent, often rude and very funny (unless swearing offends you)

FLORA + FAUNA temporary shop for London Design Festival

The imminent London Design Festival (it kicks off in two days, running 14-22 September) may be happening in the capital here, but that doesn't mean you can't get in on things if you're nowhere near the city this month.





White Horses Chase Your Dreams, by Beetroot Press, £28



FLORA + FAUNA is a temporary shop hosted by design agency, Designers / Makers to coincide with the festival – and